There was much talk at the time of a
"new model army" similar in type to the wonderful creation of
Oliver Cromwell. The Thirteen Colonies became, however, thirteen
nations. Each reserved the right to raise its own levies in its
own way. To induce men to enlist Congress was twice handicapped.
First, it had no power of taxation and could only ask the States
to provide what it needed. The second handicap was even greater.
When Congress offered bounties to those who enlisted in the
Continental army, some of the States offered higher bounties for
their own levies of militia, and one authority was bidding
against the other. This encouraged short-term enlistments. If a
man could re-enlist and again secure a bounty, he would gain more
than if he enlisted at once for the duration of the war.
An army is an intricate mechanism needing the same variety of
agencies that is required for the well-being of a community. The
chief aim is, of course, to defeat the enemy, and to do this an
army must be prepared to move rapidly. Means of transport, so
necessary in peace, are even more urgently needed in war. Thus
Washington always needed military engineers to construct roads
and bridges. Before the Revolution the greater part of such
services had been provided in America by the regular British
army, now the enemy.
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